You could see this Texans loss coming Sunday night from the first quarter — of last Monday night’s game against the New York Jets.

The Texans began that game with a textbook 85-yard touchdown drive, impressing themselves, if not a prime-time television audience that probably expected them to play the rest of the game with the same sort of piercing focus.

But the Texans wouldn’t look like that dominating team for the rest of the night, or the team that had built at least 20 point leads in winning all of its previous four games, escaping from New Jersey with a 23-17 victory.

So? A win is a win is a win in the NFL.

There was, however, something missing from the Texans that night, something difficult to really put your finger on, something intangible. Had they become overconfident? Complacent? Bored?

It could have been the wake-up call they needed.

Instead, they hit the snooze button.

That’s too bad for them because they missed an outstanding performance Sunday night by Aaron Rodgers and the not-dead-yet Green Bay Packers, who beat the Texans 42-24.

Probably wishing they had missed it were most of the 71,702 in attendance, the largest regular-season crowd ever at Reliant Stadium, although there were enough cheeseheads there to occasionally drown out everyone else with the chants of “Go Pack Go.’’

And go the Pack did.

Even this early in the season, some teams need to win more than others. The Packers are one of those teams. They entered the game with a 2-3 record. A loss to the Texans would not necessarily have meant that the Packers weren’t going to become the Super Bowl contenders that many expected them to be when the season began, but it would have had them on the brink of desperation.

They are too good, despite injuries that have turned their record-setting offense from a year ago into an average one, to be in that position. They could easily have come into this game 4-1—and that’s the team the Texans faced Sunday night, not the 2-3 one.

It also was a more motivated team. The Packers wanted the game more and took it.

“We got our tails kicked,’’ Texans coach Gary Kubiak said.

Aaron Rodgers looked like the Aaron Rodgers of last season, when he had the highest quarterback rating of all time, with six touchdown passes. He was effective despite the Texans’ vaunted pass rush and in a no-huddle offense during the first half that isn’t supposed to be effective on the road inside a domed stadium with a roaring crowd.

Not that the Texans didn’t contribute. When they last played at home two weeks ago, they were penalized once for three yards in a 38-14 victory over Tennessee. They committed seven penalties on Sunday night for 79 yards.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. The Texans forced the Packers to punt on their first possession, only to return the ball to them because DeVier Posey jumped offside. The Packers scored one play later on a 41-yard pass. They committed two penalties on the Packers’ first possession of the second half that enabled them to score a touchdown instead of a field goal.

If the Texans were looking for excuses, they could point to linebacker and leading tackler Brian Cushing’s season-ending injury last week against the Jets. They also lost backup defensive end Tim Jamison with an injury in the first half. They also could point to the short week of practice after playing six days before.

But the real reason they lost is because they didn’t have to win. The entered the game as one of only two unbeaten teams in the NFL at 5-0 and with three more victories than any other team in the AFC South.

Although Kubiak said that he didn’t notice any signs of complacency during practices, they have looked like a self-satisfied team for much of the last two games.

The Texans’ J.J. Watt is having a impressive season, more impressive than any other defensive player in the NFL, and he had another good game against the Packers with six tackles and two sacks.

Still, you have to wonder how long he spent thinking about the classless sack dance he would do after taking down Rodgers in the first half, acting as if he were ripping off a title belt and slamming it to the ground. Any time he spent thinking about it is more than he would have before the season started and too much time for Kubiak and Wade Phillips.

Kubiak wouldn’t admit this either, but this could be a good loss for the Texans. He needs to get their attention again, like he had it when the team believed it had something to prove rather than show off to a national television audience.

The Baltimore Ravens, who eliminated the Texans from the playoffs last season, are coming to town Sunday. I’m not predicting the Texans will win. I am predicting they will not be bored.

Fans stream into the stadium as night falls on the HoustonTexans game against the Green Bay Packers, their first home primetime game of the season, at Reliant Stadium.

Fans stream into the stadium as night falls on the HoustonTexans game against the Green Bay Packers, their first home primetime game of the season, at Reliant Stadium.

Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle

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Broadcaster Bob Costas adjusts his hair before going on the air prior to the Houston Texans game against the Green Bay Packers at Reliant Stadium.

Broadcaster Bob Costas adjusts his hair before going on the air prior to the Houston Texans game against the Green Bay Packers at Reliant Stadium.

Photo: Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle

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A fan wears a jersey made of a Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers jersey sewn together with the word "conflicted" written across the back as he arrives at Reliant Stadium for the Packers game against the Texans. less

A fan wears a jersey made of a Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers jersey sewn together with the word "conflicted" written across the back as he arrives at Reliant Stadium for the Packers game against the ... more

Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle

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Texans head coach Gary Kubiak watches his team warm up before facing the Green Bay Packers.

Texans head coach Gary Kubiak watches his team warm up before facing the Green Bay Packers.

Photo: Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle

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Texans fans Letty Vera, left, and her brother Mike Batalla pose for a picture on her phone before the Texans game against the Green Bay Packers.

Texans fans Letty Vera, left, and her brother Mike Batalla pose for a picture on her phone before the Texans game against the Green Bay Packers.

Photo: Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle

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Alex Richards, left, and his brother Arnaldo Richards make paella during a tailgate party outside Reliant Stadium before the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers Sunday Night Football game.

Alex Richards, left, and his brother Arnaldo Richards make paella during a tailgate party outside Reliant Stadium before the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers Sunday Night Football game.

Photo: Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle

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J. R. Zelaya poses for a friend's photo at Reliant Stadium.

J. R. Zelaya poses for a friend's photo at Reliant Stadium.

Photo: Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle

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Houston Texans fans party on top of the Southern Star tailgating bus at Reliant Stadium.

Houston Texans fans party on top of the Southern Star tailgating bus at Reliant Stadium.